Crazy little thing

Old Molière as a New Romantic. Glam rock-inspired costumes for a 17th-century play. Actors teetering on platform boots while reciting centuries-old lines. It’s a risky, yet intriguing idea, one that director Christine Nicholson pulls off with great aplomb in City Theatre’s production of Molière’s Tartuffe.According to Nicholson, the concept of using the glam-rock fashion of the late 1970s-early 1980s for an old French play seemed quite logical. When searching ways to make the classic feel contemporary, she stumbled upon on old David Bowie video, and remembered the New Romantic look of early Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Madonna and Elton John. The lacy blouses, corsets, towering platform shoes and theatrical makeup simply scream 17th-century French royal courts, just the place where Molière presented his social commentaries disguised as theatrical farces.

It turns out to be a truly inspired, time-warped choice. Costume and makeup designers Nicole Sivell and Courtney Bell deserve deep bows for their wonderfully creative, colorful outfits, wigs and face paint. The platform boot parade—towering lace-up numbers worn by both men and women—is worth the price of admission alone.

But it’s not only the look that makes this Tartuffe so fun. It’s the attitude. This is a bawdy, bodacious Molière, one that takes the sometimes dense language and brings it to life through playful interactions and drama-queen antics. But above all, this production respects both the words of Molière and intent of the play while making it more accessible to the audience. Add to that a talented cast, and you have a pretty entertaining venture.

The plot of Tartuffe is ripe with deceits and deceptions as the head of a prosperous household Orgon (Alan Tollefsen) falls under the spell of a religious hypocrite Tartuffe (Jon Jackson). Though Orgon and his mother Madam Pernelle (Vada Russell) are duped by the dandy’s false piety, the rest of the household valiantly swears to unveil the villain.

So wags and scalawags scurry around to stop betrayals and betrothals in a nonstop frenzy. The first 10 minutes of the play lags, but the pace quickly picks up and frivolity reigns.

Every actor makes the mark while presenting a true ensemble. Kudos to the long list that deserve mentioning—Tollefsen (very John Lithgow), Jackson, Russell, Dana Strickland, Sarah Bond, Jason Oler, Whitney Deatherage, Katherine Pappa, James McKellips, along with all the supporting characters and production crew.